Matthew Desmond Quotes

Whereas it has long been known and declared that the poor have no right to the property of the rich, I wish it also to be known and declared that the rich have no right to the property of the poor.

Yet today our splendid theory of government is confronted by a great peril. We have become blind to evils that menace us. We are confronted with glutted markets and idle labor. It is a condition that makes it possible for a few men to become landlords of a proud city like this while God's poor are packed in the slums. Such a condition is not only a menace to Republican institutions, but a travesty upon the gospel of Jesus Christ.

There is sometimes a tendency to assume that everyone in this great country has adequate housing. But when you go to certain places, certain neighborhoods, both urban and rural, you find out that's not the case, and I think we have to do much more.

The cancer that demands our urgent attention is corruption and poverty.

Homelessness is like public education - something that for far too long we haven't put the resources or love or attention to.

These days there is a lot of poverty in the world, and that's a scandal when we have so many riches and resources to give to everyone. We all have to think about how we can become a little poorer.

Income inequity has to be addressed.

We oppose the benefit cap. We oppose social cleansing. We will bring the welfare bill down by controlling rents and boosting wages, not by impoverishing families and socially cleansing our communities.

'Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream' is an intentionally angry film. How could it not be when the chance of an infant dying is five times greater on the Bronx Park Avenue than on Manhattan's Park Avenue just across the Harlem River?

The slum is the measure of civilization.

A considerable share of the world's population still cannot afford comfortable housing, education and quality health care.

Contrary to what those in power would like you to believe so that you'll give up your pension, cut your wages, and settle for the life your great-grandparents had, America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash.

The economy is not governed with the bottom half in mind.

Wealth is conspicuous, but poverty hides.

It would be nice if the poor were to get even half of the money that is spent in studying them.

When I recently spent a night at a homeless shelter, I was dismayed that members of the middle class had moved in and that earning above the minimum wage did not protect adults from having to share a room with dozens of others.

There shouldn't be two Indias; we need affordable housing. There are projections that by 2017, 18.78 million will be the number of those living in slums.

Homelessness is a part of our American system. There should be nothing wrong with this condition as long as the individual is not sentenced to unnecessary suffering and punishment.

To deal with radicalism and extremism, we need to deal with economic inequality. This is what I learned from my experience in Solo and then in Jakarta.

All the legislation in the world cannot fix what is wrong with America.

The needs of the poor take priority over the desires of the rich

The poor will never cease out of the land.

There is not enough wealth in the cities to redistribute it from those who are wealthy to those who are poor.

Who takes the blame: the leader who talks of poverty but lives in luxury, or the poor who choose a leader of that type?

You're not going to solve the problems of poverty in the world with less energy.